Electronic Data Systems (EDS)

Electronic Data Systems (EDS) is a global information technology services company that was established in 1962 by Ross Perot and is headquartered in Plano, Texas. General Motors acquired the company in 1984. EDS became an independent company again in 1996. In 2000 it employed 128,000 people located in 58 countries, and reported revenues of US$19.2 billion. 22% of that revenue came from contracts with the United States government, a slightly smaller amount from contracts with General Motors (their largest single client), and 42% from outside the United States. 

EDS has been granted several United States military contracts. In 2000, they closed a contract for the creation of a $9 billion intranet linking the Navy and the Marine Corps. This initiative is known as the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, or simply NMCI. EDS was granted additional contracts with the 21st century wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

EDS and biometric technology
The 2004 Identity Management Survey was published in October 2004. According to an EDS press release, the survey was "commissioned by EDS and the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), and conducted by the Ponemon Institute". The survey asked a number of leading questions about the difficulties consumers have with existing methods of securing their personal information, before asking more leading questions about their willingness to adopt biometric identification technology. For example, when asked if "one secure and private identification credential, issued by a trusted organization, would make it much more convenient to prove their identity to various organizations", an unsurprisingly high proportion (75%) of those surveyed said "yes". The survey triumphantly concluded that "More than 69 percent are open to the idea of using biometrics for identity management. Only 12 percent said no to biometrics, while 19 percent are unsure". 

It should be noted that, as of late 2004, both EDS and the Ponemon Institute were 'Platinum Level Corporate Sponsors' of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Political contributions
EDS gave $122,350 to federal candidates in the 2006 election through its political action committee - 40% to Democrats and 59% to Republicans.

Lobbying
The company spent $1,836,324 for lobbying in the first half of 2007. $145,000 went to three lobbying firms with the remainder being spent using in-house lobbyists.

Personnel
Key leadership and 2006 pay:
 * Ronald A. Rittenmeyer, Chief Executive Officer, $5,399,527
 * Jeffrey M. Heller, Vice Chairman, $5,492,619
 * Charlie Feld, Senior Executive Vice President of Application Services
 * Ronald P. Vargo, Chief Financial Officer, $1,736,537

Selected members of the Board of Directors:
 * Ray J. Groves, Former Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, Member of the Council on Foreign Relations
 * Ray L. Hunt, CEO of Hunt Oil Company
 * Edward A. Kangas, Former Chairman and CEO Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
 * Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico

Former board members:
 * Dick Cheney, Vice President of the U.S.

Contact details
EDS Headquarters :

5400 Legacy Drive Plano, TX 75024 USA Tel: 1 800 566 9337 Tel: 1 972 604 6000 (international) Fax: 1 972 605 6033 Email: info AT eds.com Website: http://www.eds.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * David Blunkett
 * Malcolm J. Gudis
 * ID Cards: The Next Steps
 * ID Cards: Towards Procurement and Implementation
 * International Association of Privacy Professionals]
 * Muthoni Magua - former staff
 * UK National Identity Cards Scheme
 * Robert J. Schultz
 * Sheelagh Whittaker